Chapter 8: What Do You Say
Damian's POV
"Bye Aunt Mia! Bye Uncle Damian!" Lian squealed as she waved goodbye.
"Thanks for watching her." Harper stated as I nodded.
"You're welcome." Mia replied as they headed towards their Jeep.
I closed the door and Mia sighed.
"Damian, I want a baby."
"Alright. Can you hold on until we make it to the bedroom?" I replied as she punched my arm.
"That wasn't funny! You know we can't have one that way!" She yelled, turning away from me.
"I'm sorry."
"There are a lot of things I wish I could give you, Damian… A baby is one of them." she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"You are already my world. I only desire your happiness." I replied as I wiped a tear from her cheek.
********Break********
I took her hand into mine as we strolled through Gotham Park. We stopped as we passed a vender selling hot chocolate.
"Damian, let's get some." Mia said as she pulled me over to the vender.
"Two." I ordered, pulling out a twenty.
The money never made it into the vender's hand. Out of nowhere a heathen in a black hoodie leapt up and snatched the money.
"Hey!" I yelled before taking off after the little brat.
Mia's POV
"Damian!" I screamed as the ex-assassin took off after some little boy.
Great. Now I have to run in high heels in the snow.
Running after them, I watched as the tiny criminal fled the park and dashed into the street with Damian trailing behind him. Both of them managed to doge the oncoming traffic without getting killed by pedestrians or cars. The two disappeared into an alley.
After dodging a few taxis, I entered the alley where they had disappeared. I found Damian with his back turned towards me with the struggling kid in his grasp.
"Get the hell off me!"
"You little-"
"Damian!" I hissed as he turned towards me with the boy still trying to escape.
My mouth nearly dropped open as I stared at them. Oh my God. The hood wasn't hiding the boy's face anymore. Black hair. Familiar blue eyes. His face… Oh my God.
"Damian, he looks just like you… He looks just like Bruce." I whispered.
"What!" Damian exclaimed as he forcibly lifted the boy's face and examined it. "Mia, he looks nothing like me or my father!"
The kid took advantage of Damian's confusion and brought his knee up to Damian's crotch. Needless to say, Damian let go of the kid. The boy tried to run, only to be stopped by three men approaching. Glancing behind me, I could see three more coming… Great.
Recovering, Damian appeared beside me and immediately pushed me behind him. As if I can't take care of myself!
The biggest of the six, and presumably the leader, had the kid by the arm. They were whispering something. The kid pulled a few bills out of his pocket as the leader snatched it from his hands. I gasped as the leader roughly backhanded the boy.
Shoving Damian out of my way, I marched right up to the asshole and slapped him across his face and shouted, "Do not hit him! I don't know who you think you are and I don't care! But, you do not just put your hands on a child!"
The six of them just laughed as the boy on the ground just stared at me in amazement. I could see blood dripping down his split lip.
"Name's Charlie 'Big Time' Bigelow, sweetheart." He replied, grabbing my hand.
"Take. Your. Hands. Off. Her." Damian threatened.
"I'd keep your boyfriend on a short leash, sweetheart. People could get hurt." Bigelow threatened.
I yanked my hand out of his grasp and warned, "He's not my boyfriend. He's my husband and I'd leave now before he kills you."
They laughed for about two seconds before I casually moved out of the line of fire and knelt down beside the boy. I'd let Damian have his fun… for now. But, first I wanted answers.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
He shrugged as I pulled a tissue out of my purse and wiped away the blood on his lips. He eyed me suspiciously as I smiled at him.
"You shouldn't have done anything. It will only make Charlie angrier." The boy grumbled.
"Mia! What are you doing?" Damian growled as I turned to see the street gang running for their lives.
I ignored him as the boy glared at Damian. Holy shit! He has the Batglare!
Damian reached around me and pulled the kid off of the ground by the back of his hoodie.
"Who are you?"
"I could ask you the same question." The kid growled as the two of them swapped identical glares.
"Alright… I'm sure an officer would-"
"No!" the boy yelled as he tried to escape Damian's grasp.
"What's your name?" I asked in a gentle tone.
"It's Terry… Terry McGinnis." He mumbled.
"I'm Mia and this is Damian." I replied, detaching Damian's grip on the boy.
"Mia!" Damian hissed as I ignored him.
"Are you hungry, Terry?"
********Break********
Damian's POV
"No!" I growled as Mia pleaded with me.
"He's just a little boy!"
"He's a juvenile delinquent! He's a street rat! He's served time and he's only nine!"
"So did Jason and he turned out alright!"
"Todd is a hitman and a crime lord!"
"But, you love him anyway!"
"I tolerate him! There is a difference!"
"We've been thinking about adopting anyway! Besides, he could your brother for all we know!"
"I think I'd know if my father had any more children running around!"
"All we have to do is run a DNA test on him and then we'll figure out something." She calmly informed me.
"And what are we to do in the meantime? I have a delinquent in my guest bedroom!"
"I'm working on it! Now, I'm tired and I want to go to bed… Go check on Terry and see if he needs anything… And he'd better be there!" she threatened as I stalked out of the master bedroom.
I knocked on the door. Upon hearing nothing, I pushed it open. Of course, no one is in here! Moving over to the opened window, I could see a figure running across the grass.
Damn.
********Break********
Watching him from the shadows, I followed him through the Gotham streets. I watched as he cautiously moved through the dangerous city. The boy came to a stop at a foster home for boys. He scaled the building until he managed to climb onto the middle window of the third floor. The window was opened and he disappeared inside the house.
Moving closer, I could see Terrence along with five other boys inside the tiny room. He was sitting on one of the beds with a small boy with the same dark hair and eyes as the older boy. The younger of the two couldn't have been older than two or three. The two whispered for a few minutes before they both laid down together. The smaller boy was snuggled in the elder's grasp.
Minutes passed before the older boy gently pushed the younger one over and covered him with the thin blanket before slipping out the window. Terrence slowly descended down the side of the building before heading down an alley.
He soon caught up with the same street gang as earlier. He approached Bigelow.
"Well?" the larger and older of the two barked.
"I didn't get anymore, Charlie. Sorry." The boy muttered.
"Dammit Terry! I told you what happens when you don't pull your own weight!" The leader growled as he jerked the boy up against the alley wall.
"Let him go." I growled, moving out of the shadows.
The gang looked nervous as I approached. They backed away as I moved to stand in front of Bigelow and Terrence.
"I won't ask you again." I threatened as the man kept one hand one the boy as the other reached into his pocket.
Seconds later, a gun was aimed at my head. I merely glared at him.
"No one makes me look like an idiot." The leader spat.
"Charlie! Don't! You can't-" the boy yelled before the hand holding onto his sweatshirt was transferred to his mouth.
"Shut up! I'll do whatever I want!" he threatened, taking his eyes off me and transferring them to the boy.
That split second was all the time I needed. The gun went off as it was knocked out of his hand by my shoe. Apparently, the shot attracted a couple of patrolling policemen. The rest of the street gang scattered, leaving me, Bigelow, McGinnis, and the two officers. Bigelow was arrested on the spot by one of them as the other grabbed the boy.
"We've been looking for you kid! You'll be sent back to juvie when the judge is done with you!" the female officer hissed before turning to me. "So sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Wayne. Are you hurt, sir?"
I can either allow him to be arrested and have Mia pissed at me or…
"I am fine, Officer Grady… I was fortunate that the boy managed to warn me in time." I smoothly replied, pulling the boy away from the shocked officer.
"But… he's-"
"My ward. Didn't you read the paper, Officer? I'm sure my father will be offering a reward to the officers who managed to save his youngest son and eldest grandchild from a mugger." I smoothly lied as she nodded.
"Of course… I just mistook the kid for someone else… So sorry for the mistake."
"Right… We'll be going now. The boy is exhausted. We'll give our statement tomorrow… Thank you officer." I replied, winking at her blushing face before pushing Terrence in front of me.
"What was that?" he whispered.
I merely smirked in response.
********Break*********
We trudged along the streets as he kept glancing at me.
"Was that boy your brother?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah… His name's Matt. He's three… We were sent to separate homes when our parents died… I check on him and make sure he's okay when I can."
"I assume you're no longer in foster care."
"I hated it. I took my chances on the streets."
"And then you became involved with a gang. You know, you have quite the record for a nine year old."
"You're one to talk! You go all freaky ninja!"
********Break********
Bruce's POV
"Hey, Bruce." Mia greeted as she entered the Batcave.
"Hello Mia. Can I help you?"
"If you're not busy. Can you run a quick little DNA test for me?" she sweetly asked.
Because I'm obviously not trying to be Batman right now, I answered, "Sure… Is this for the child you and Damian were thinking of adopting?"
"Actually… There's two of them now… I well, I want to check the results against yours."
"Excuse me?" I asked in surprise.
"The two boys… They kinda look like you… If the test isn't a match than Damian and I are going to adopt them." She hopefully replied.
"And if the test is a match?"
"Then you'd want them, right?"
"Right." I mumbled.
"Are you sure you want to adopt-"
"Yes! I've always known I'd never be able to have any kids of my own… And there's just something special about those two little boys… And Damian's happy and excited, though he'd never admit it. I feel as if I love them like they were my own already."
"Right… I'll have the tests ready for you later... Why don't you get Damian and those boys you keep talking about and bring them over here for dinner?"
"Okay. I'll see you in a bit Bruce."
********Break********
Impossible… I would have remembered… Oh wait a minute. I do remember her… I did it again.
"Master Bruce, are you all right?" Alfred asked as he approached me. "You've been staring at that paper for twenty minutes. The family will be here any minute."
"Alfred… I tested the DNA of Terry and Matt McGinnis with my own… They're mine. They're both mine."
"I buy you condoms for a reason, sir."
"This is serious!"
"And what do you intend to do about it?" Alfred asked after a tense moment of silence.
"I just can't take them away from Damian and Mia. It wouldn't be right. They're both excited and happy and I'm old Alfred!"
"Speak for yourself, sir."
"No one can know that they're mine, Alfred… At least, not yet."
